Anyone in a pharmacy or medical field...?

Question

Hi, I'm almost a junior is high school and I'd really like to know my career path by next school year, especially since I'm THINKING about graduating early.

Anyway, I'm thinking of becoming a pharmacist because I just love chemistry, science and medicine. It fascinates me. I've done research on pharmacy schools and curriculum within each school. I've also done research on the descriptions of what they actually do, but I can't find much on that. With all of that school, I want to be sure that I'm making the right career choice. So could please answer a few questions for me?
--If you are or know a pharmacist, I would LOVE a detailed description of what you/they do!
--How much respect do they receive or deserve?
--Anything else relevant that you think I should know?

Thank you so much!

Answer 1

http://www.pfizercareerguides.com/default.asp?t=book&b=pharmacy

pfizer career guide is a good resource to to give you somewhat of an idea of what pharmacists do. basically retail pharmacists work on the computer, call doctors offices and other pharmacies for prescription refills and transfers, answer questions people have about meds, get yelled at by old people, and count pills. the polls alwayyssss say pharmacists are one of the most respected professions, but really you get **** on quite a bit. doctors think youre retarded even though you probably know more than many of them and many people haggle over a dollar or two and other stupid little things and treat you like a cashier at walmart.

on the sunny side of things though, it probably has the best job market of just about any major. when your friends in business school graduate, half of them cant find a job and those who do are raking in a whooping 35k a year. pharmacy schools have a near 100% job placement rate after graduation and the average starting salary right out of school is something like 80-100k/yr. its debateable whether or not that will continue though, some people think it will as there are more and more clinical jobs opening, others think the clinical stuff wont go very far and mail order will eventually take a large market share (and Rxs are filled mostly by robots and pharmacy techs at mail order pharmacies rather than pharmacists). but like i said the future is highly debateable, and i dont want to scare you away. nobody has a clue what will happen and the outcome will likely be in between. i like the job though because i like talking to people all day rather than sitting in a cubicle crunching numbers. and did i mention the pay is awesome :)

Answer 2

I'm in the industry although not a pharmacist. Pharmacists are among the most respected professionals. Their medical knowledge is right up there with Drs.

Most people start out in the retail pharmacy environment, like CVS, Eckerd, etc. Great starting pay but retail hours.

After doing this many people with pharm. degrees go to work at the large Drug companies where their knowledge is appreciated and salaries are good.

There is currently a shortage of pharmacists, the job pays very well and you get to help people. It's a lot more than just counting pills.

Answer 3

I'm a first year student in university also in pharmacy , and as I know from my aunt (she's a pharmacist) that pharmacy is like a trade because you will have a pharmacy (like a shop) and you'll sell medicines (goods) , but it is a respectable job and you'll always be deserving that respect ... (also it's a well paid job!!)

So If u like this field keep goin' on it because you'll have so many other options like owning a medicine factory or even managing a hospital.....
I hope I helped.

Answer 4

regrettably, Homeopathy isn't a appropriate field to those you describe. you will might desire to take an entire direction in pharmacy or medicine with a view to get the job you like. There are jobs with lesser skills which you would be able to initiate out with interior the scientific field to construct your journey, in spite of the undeniable fact that, which provides you with the certainty you're able to desire to proceed added.